Lollyphile

When Chupa Chups came out with the tongue-staining gimmick, I was totally into them. The colors—bright industrial blues and greens—would stain your mouth black, which felt dangerous in a ridiculous kid way. But the flavors were just standard candy. Apple. Strawberry. Nothing unexpected.

I found out about Lollyphile a while back, this company in San Francisco making lollipops that taste like pizza and beer and breastmilk. The breastmilk one is genuinely strange, but I respect what they’re doing. They decided candy didn’t have to stay cute and innocent.

The full lineup is wild. Chocolate bacon. Cornflakes. Green tea. Sriracha. Mojito. Wasabi. Eight bucks each. You only buy them if you actually want to know what pizza lollipop tastes like. Not for the joke of it. Just to know.

Using candy as an excuse to taste combinations that shouldn’t go together. Wasabi and sugar. Bacon and chocolate. It shouldn’t work but it does.